Experienced Civil & Criminal Lawyer

Attorney Cresta-Savage was co-counsel in the case of Doe v. MD Department of Public Safety and Corrections, decided by the Maryland Court of Appeals. The court concluded that application of the Maryland sex offender registration law to John Doe, as a result of the 2009 and 2010 amendments, “after the commission of an offense which . . . in relation to that offense, or its consequences, alters the situation of [Doe] to his disadvantage” violates Art. 17 of the Maryland Declaration of Rights. Doe v. Dep’t of Pub. Safety & Corr. Servs., 430 Md. 535, 62 A.3d 123 (2013).

Ms. Cresta Savage has served as the President of the District of Columbia Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (DCACDL). As President of DCACDL, she managed the topic and speaker planning and emcee duties for the Association’s well-received yearly “Rights of Spring” seminar series which brings together 100+ criminal defense attorneys for advanced training in pretrial, trial, and appellate practice skills. She also was responsible for organizing and staffing the DCACDL “Annual Appellate Review,” another seminar that covers updates and significant opinions in federal and DC courts including Supreme Court appellate law.

She has also served as Vice President of the DC Superior Court Trial Lawyers Association and a committee member of the DC Bar Criminal Law and Individual Rights Section.

Ms. Cresta-Savage was a member of the Board of Directors for National Assn of Criminal Defense Lawyers from 2015-2018 and remains the Chair of Corrections Committee for NACDL.

In March 2014, she spoke at NACDL’s Collateral Consequences Seminar in New Orleans addressing members regarding her recent victory in the State of Maryland Court of Appeals (Doe v. Department of Public Safety & Correctional Services, 430 Md. 535, 62 A.3d 123 (2013)), which found that the ex post facto application of the 2010 Sex Offender Registration Law violated the Maryland State constitution. As a result of that decision, over 800 individuals have been voluntarily taken off the sex offender registry by the State of Maryland.